A New Twist

Twenty-one years ago I heard an idea suggested. Carrying it out required far more courage than I could spare. The idea nestled itself in my psyche as unsurmountable, but it still demanded reckoning...it might have been my Everest. So the other day at the pool I was doing my own thing-all the tricks I keep in my repetoire-and I was kind of goofing around with this Native teenager...you know: dares, bets, swapping of tips. Then suddenly I saw him atop my Everest. That's right-he did a gainer. He looked like (almost exactly like)coffee being poured from a carafe. Then he got out of the water and told me matter-of-factly that he knows that I could do it if I would try. I realized that-at the very worst-I would flop ( back or belly, who knows...who cares)and it would hurt only for a few seconds. Wait a minute: a few seconds of stinging has held me back for twenty-one years!? This was inspiring, this was embarassing...Plus, the kid looked like coffee--what could be more obvious?! This was my time. So I did it. Well, that's over simplified. I barely eeked out a half gainer, but my second was much stronger-albeit still a half. The third one, however, is when I accidentally tucked further...resulting in my very first full gainer. This was big news!!! So big that I even called my brother to tell him--we had shared it as a goal; I have no idea if he ever achieved it or not.(I just left a message.) A week has passed since that fateful day and the movment feels totally natural now. I'm trying to smooth out the stylistic end of it now and actually a gainer takes less breath than my-old-standby: the One-and-a-half. "I'm hooked, I'm cooked, I'm smitten, I'm bitten, I'm stuck like glue." By the way, now I've inspired that kid to try to tuck when he does his gainer. What comes around goes around. So, reader, don't be scared "you got to get up, and climb that hill again". -k

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You know who's good at making Sonic Youth albums? I mean, a lot of musicians try to do it, but they only try (some even try hard), they just can't make it. They can't nail the exhortations, or the dreamy urgency. There's no undercurrent or push. I think Sonic Youth doesn't try to make great Sonic Youth albums...they just make music. -and the natural end result is (often enough)-you guessed it-great Sonic Youth albums. This new "Rather Ripped" is just as awesome as "Washing Machine" -which, by the way, is the album that first made me realize that Sonic Youth is really good at making Sonic Youth albums. So...thanks, Darrin, for taking better care of me than I would-by buying it for me!-kmf